Welcome, Kasen James Davis...

Welcome, Little Buddy.

You are born into a world of dichotomies. Before we get to that let me tell you a little about your family.

You have a dad who stills know how to play. What fun is that?? Your life will be full of magic. Parents who know how to play are far and few between. He will wake you up with bubbles on a Saturday morning, sing songs to you on the guitar to fall asleep at night and make even funnier faces than you will ever be able to---you can't ask for more-except

You also have a mom with a heart of gold. She is already majorly(my word) in love with you-and you will have real meals(she can cook), clean clothes smelling of fresh air and lots of pets. She is a guru of pets. She loves animals. So you will learn all about loving not just from your parents but from whatever pet you have as a family member. You are one lucky dude.

You also have other family members who you will get to know exceptionally well-

A grandmother who probably saw you long before you were born and was there the minute you took a breath-

an aunt with children so loved it makes your favorite teddy bear look sad-and she will -count on it-love you as much-and an uncle who will also play songs for you as part of a duet-with your dad.

Two cousins-one who will teach you manners and the other the way of boys-

A teen age aunt in the midst of her own angst who will love you the minute she gets to hold your tiny little hand

and a Grandfather-who has always had an inner teacher, and I think, has been disappointed for awhile that his Daddy Nature Trips have been on hold-

But don't worry, little Kasen, dude, he has plans for you-

You are going to learn all about the workings of the inner ear, the eye, airplanes, electricity-spaycams(lol) and all kinds of gadgets.

And Patty, his lifelong partner, who has taught your grandfather the meaning of loyal-and she is gonna love you-in fact you will probably get your first handmade gift from her-she has talents.

You are lucky-because although Grandma can't do tea parties and take you for walks, she gets to touch and smell you and she will know you, Kasen, it is a gift to be 90 and be able to smell the smell of your great grand baby- great grandchildren-your cousins know it-someday your parents will tell you all about Grandma and Guns and Roses...

Maybe we will save the part about your new home for another letter.

For the time being, I hope you feel all the love you have coming out of us, all of the love, it is what nourishes your spirit, and ours.

Welcome, Little Buddy. Life is good for you-we all promise you that....

Love, Connie

What else haven't we cared for???

My heart hurts for those lives yanked away in such a horrible disaster-one that could have been prevented. Like the Levees breached in New Orleans, the Sunshine Skyway collapsing in St. Peter burg, Florida, the O Rings on the Challenger, and the heat shields on the Voyager, these could have all prevented.

It seems as if few people take responsible for maintenance and we spend a lot of time investigating who needs to take the blame.

I would say "who needs to accept responsibility" but I have a question here-does anyone have consequences for neglect? I haven't heard of any except for the fact Brownie resigned. What about the Corps of Engineers? The contractors who built and knew about flaws? The state and government.

What is most frightening to me and should be to you as well is this-Can we trust our infrastructure? Do you feel confident driving through the Windsor Tunnel or across the Brooklyn Bridge? Some of these are twenty years or older. Is anyone really paying attention to what is needed to care for these?

Sometimes it is the cheap materials used. Sometimes it is knowing the flaw but factoring in the cost to correct it and deciding to take the risk.

Do our lives come so cheaply that they are now considered a cost factor in a gamble?

Do we care? Or do we only care when it involves someone we love personally.

Do we no longer care about the welfare of all of us-only what it means to us?

If that is the case, we no longer have a community- looking after the welfare of one another-just a large group of people living side by side believing they are the exception-not needing to take responsibility for anyone but numero uno.

Pretty scary.